Chapter 11 - VIVIAN FINALLY ADMITTED WHY SHE HATED LILYHer deposition was painful.
My lawyer asked:
“Why did Lily upset you?”
Vivian said:
“She changed everything.”
“How?”
“Her birth activated the audit.”
“Anything else?”
“She made Ava permanent.”
I stared through the video feed.
There.
“Explain.”
Vivian’s voice weakened.
“As long as Ava was only Owen’s wife, marriages can end.”
My hands went cold.
“Once Lily was born, Ava was tied to us forever.”
Not legally forever in every sense.
Emotionally, yes.
Lily was Owen’s daughter.
My relationship with Owen could end tomorrow and Lily would still be a Lancaster child.
Vivian hated permanence she did not choose.
Then:
“And the trust?”
“My branch stood to lose leverage over Harbor Point if Ava’s claim strengthened.”
“Did you believe harming Lily would eliminate the trust?”
Vivian hesitated.
“I believed if Ava left with the child, she might settle.”
There.
The bin was not a sophisticated assassination attempt.
It was intimidation.
Humiliate child.
Frighten mother.
Drive us out.
Then negotiate from distance.
That was ugly enough.
No need to inflate it.
My lawyer asked:
“Did you intend Lily to be injured?”
“No.”
“Did you understand placing a twenty-two-month-old child outdoors in a trash container during heavy rain could cause injury?”
A long pause.
“Yes.”
That was the line that mattered.
May you like
Risk known.
Action chosen.
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